Jane’s Addiction - who is the real performer?
I recently learned that Jane’s Addiction are playing a free show at NYC’s Terminal 5 on July 25th. Why is the show free? 1) Because there is a corporate sponsor: electronics company LG. But also 2) because the fans will actually being working during the show. From the LG press release:
The technological force of LG is uniting with YouTube, the largest video-sharing site on the web, to create a one-of-a-kind concert experience that will push senses into another dimension. On July 25, LG Mobile Phones and YouTube will give Jane’s Addiction and tech fans the exclusive opportunity to watch and be a part of the World’s First 3D User-Generated Concert event. Adding a whole new dimension to the concert experience,attendees will use LG Thrill 4G devices to shoot their own 3D video of what is sure to be an electrifying performance. The 3D creations will then be collected and combined by LG into one 60-minute documentary - culminating in what will soon be known as the World’s First 3D User-Generated Concert. Consumers watch the concert live on YouTube (7/25) or at an AT&T store on the new LG Thrill 4G. Fans can tune back into the LG Thrill YouTube 3D channel on August 4th to view the premiere of the 3D documentary. Visit LGThrill4G.com for more information about the concert and the awe-inspiring glasses-free 3D LG Thrill 4G exclusively on AT&T.
There’s an interesting meta-ness here, where the fans will actually function 1) as employees of the band (and LG), filming a video for them, and 2) as knowing actors in said video. Yes, technically anything filmed is a document of something, but this in no way will result in a document simply of a band performing for its fans. Here, as much as the band, it’s the fans who are performing; their role is being “fans.” I’d argue it is nearly impossible for any fan, armed with a camera, and tasked to film a full concert they know will air as an official documentary on the web, to feel and behave unselfconsciously simply as a fan.
Have you ever noticed that any time during a concert when a lead singer announces something like “this show is being filmed for MTV!” that the crowd goes apeshit? It’s the second that people shift from being in the moment as fans to being actors playing fans, and apparently it’s inherent that no one wants to appear that they are at an event that’s not completely awesome. What’s interesting and new about this Jane’s show is that not only do the fans know they are being recorded, but they are also doing the recording, moving them yet another step further from being present, in the moment.
An aside - does LG honestly expect consumers to keep this all straight: 3D LG Thrill 4G … LG Thrill YouTube 3D channel. LG, 3D, 4G - the wording and acronyms on this project and for the products are just nonsense when read together.
